Magnolia
by Ignis et Ventus
Summary: After 5 years away from his hometown, Sora returns for his junior year of high school. His hopes for a peaceful and uneventful year are quickly squashed as he meets a person from his dark past. RikuSora, LeonSora, RikuCloud, LeonCloud, AkuRoku


Wow, I haven't written anything in such a long time! I'm currently working on Crystalline's sequel, a new Harry Potter fic and an update for Sunburn but I've been planning this fic for a long time. It is my first Kingdom Hearts fic and I hope it turns out good…

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, blah blah blah…

Magnolia chapter 1

A soft breeze swayed tall, fluttering trees as green leaves slowly fell to the ground. Beautiful, glittering azure eyes took in their surroundings. A huge white stone building stood erect in the peaceful setting. A trembling hand hesitantly reached for the main door's handle while its companion clenched around the strap of a backpack. Finally, with a shaky sigh, their owner pushed the heavy block of wood open and entered the grand building.

In complete contrast with the peaceful silence of the outside, the hallway he had entered was bustling with hurried people. He felt insignificant compared to the constantly moving crowd and he stood immobile, breathtaking eyes swivelling everywhere to find something familiar.

"Are you okay?"

A hand was placed on his shoulder and he quickly turned towards the speaker. He looked up and immediately drowned in an infinite sea of stormy grey. The handsome older boy was frozen into place for a few seconds, his pupils dilating before he took a deep breath and slightly shook his head.

"Are you new?"

Sora nodded shyly, biting his lip in anxiety. The taller of the two took his bag from the other's hand and grabbed his wrist leading him towards another hallway.

"Come on, I'll bring you to the head office…"

"Sora"

The eldest nodded, a smile on his lips. The name fit the beautiful boy well.

"Hello Sora, I'm Leon."

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"Are you alright Leon? You've been zoned out since the start of class."

The stoic boy looked up to meet bright blue eyes that were acclaimed as the brightest in the school. A flash of gorgeous, never-ending pools of sky entered his mind and he smirked. There was brighter.

"Leon?"

He sighed internally and turned back to the blond in front of him.

"I'm fine Cloud."

An arm surrounded the cheerful boy's waist and a silver head appeared on his shoulder. Riku smirked, his hand clenching possessively on his boyfriend's hipbone.

"Don't you know Cloud, Leon is too manly to daydream."

The blond frowned and turned around, hitting Riku on the chest.

"Don't say that!"

Leon shook his head and got up just as the bell rang.

"Whatever."

As he left the classroom, he heard a "wait!". Turning around, he saw Cloud, a reluctant Riku, a babbling Kairi, Roxas and Axel hand in hand and Tidus following him to their usual lunch spot. Unspoken as usual, he did not mention to the others that he was not heading to the cafeteria but simply turned at a different hall. He reached a simple, isolated corner ready to wait for his companion when he saw a head of tousled cinnamon locks heading towards him. The person stopped a few inches short of running into him, panting slightly. Startling cobalt eyes smiled at him as the shorter of the two caught his breath.

"I'm sorry Leon, I got lost."

The older teen smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry Sora, I just got here."

The boy smiled up at him and took his hand.

"So Leon, where do you eat around here?"

Grey eyes shone peacefully as Leon was finally content.

The taller of the two lead them up a winding staircase until they finally reached a grey door. He stopped, hand hesitating on the rusty handle. He turned to the petit brunet in front of him and asked.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

The boy frowned questioningly and shook his head slowly.

"No, not really, why?"

Leon smiled mysteriously and said with a conniving glint in his eyes.

"You'll see."

He stood still for a few more seconds to let the suspense accumulate and finally opened the door and led the other boy behind him. He smirked as he heard a gasp. He turned towards Sora and saw widened eyes and a gaping mouth staring out of the room and unto the view of the whole city.

"I…It's just so beautiful."

Squall smiled softly at his awestruck companion and pushed him to a sitting position placing his lunch between the two. Finally after a few minutes, Sora stopped staring all around him and settled down, opening his own lunch bag and starting to eat in a comfortable silence with his new friend. After a while of the peaceful ambiance, Leon checked his watch.

"We should go, bell's gonna ring in five minutes."

Sora nodded and picked up his trash along with Leon and the tall teen led them to a dumpster where they threw away everything. Quickly going down the stairs and into a very crowded hallway, Leon pointed Sora towards his next class. The two stood a bit awkwardly in the middle of the long hall.

"Umm…Well thank you for everything. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Leon nodded.

"Do you want to meet me tomorrow morning before homeroom? Uh…I could help you out again."

Sora nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! I'll meet you at the front entrance!"

They both ignored the fact that Sora already knew where his homeroom was and shared a soft smile before separating ways.

Sora entered the classroom, butterflies still gently fluttering in his chest. He still couldn't believe how nice Leon was. When he had first entered the large school, lost and confused, he never thought someone would be kind-hearted enough to help the scrawny newbie; particularly not someone as handsome and well, perfect as Leon. It had been such a long time since he had let himself trust another but he couldn't help it when the grey eyed boy was concerned. Something inside of him resonated with the other's presence and his whole body thrummed at his touch. Sora had a crush for the first time in 5 extraordinarily long years. He closed his eyes and willed away the memories regarding his departure from his hometown exactly 5 years before. He was lucky to have never come across the two banes of his existence and the sole reasons for his misery in the past few years and he did not want his own thoughts to resurrect his finally buried pain.

He looked around the classroom and smiled as he saw a free seat nestled between a red haired boy that had his head settled on the table in front of him and a girl with a strange hairdo who was moving her body on her seat as she hummed along with her mp3 player. He swiftly headed their way and sat down. The boy was the first to turn towards him, painstakingly lifting his head from its position.

"Hey Sora, we didn't see you at lunch!"

The brunet smiled. He had met Wakka only this morning but the boy's quick acceptance of him and his original charm made them instant friends.

"I'm sorry Wakka, I was having lunch with a friend. Maybe you could meet him tomorrow. Have lunch together?"

The lazy redhead nodded.

"Yeah, sure…"

And went back to his previous stance, content with having a nap before the start of class.

"Sora! Sora! Where were you at lunch? You missed me building an igloo with my jello!"

Sora grinned at his other friend. Immediately after his entrance into the classroom that morning, she had dragged him to a seat beside her and Wakka and started talking a mile per minute. The boy had never met someone quite that energetic and he had been a bit speechless at the beginning but quickly grew accustomed to the girl's antics. He laughed.

"I'm sorry Selphie, I was having lunch with a friend."

The green eyed brunette started bouncing on her seat.

"A friend? Ooh! Is it a guy? Is he cute? Can we meet him? What's his name?"

Sora chuckled and quickly slowed Selphie down with a hand on her shoulder.

"Wow! Calm down Selphie! Yes, he's a guy, he's very handsome. Yes, you can have lunch with us tomorrow if he's okay with it. His name is Leon."

Selphie squealed and started bouncing again while clapping her hands.

"Ooh! I have so many ideas, we could dress up as…"

Sora tuned her out while shaking his head in amusement. The teacher entered the classroom ans everyone quieted down. Sora couldn't help thinking that the next day was going to be very interesting.

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'It's so noisy!' Sora looked around the front yard of the school, the morning sun shone brightly overhead and illuminated the clutter of students arriving, shouting greetings at each other. Sora wondered how people could be so lively a 8 o'clock in the morning but hastily dispelled the notion as one of the inexplicable facts of life.

"Hello there!"

The azure eyed teen swiftly turned around and smiled at the speaker.

"Hello! Did you have a nice rest of the day yesterday?"

Leon nodded and half shrugged.

"As good as a school day can be, I suppose."

Sora laughed and started heading towards the entrance alongside the older teen.

"Oh! That reminds me, my friends want to meet you."

Squall lifted an eyebrow.

"Your friends?"

Sora blushed brightly and nodded.

"I met them yesterday, they're in all of my classes and I sort of mentioned you yesterday so now they want to meet you. I told them that we could have lunch together if you don't mind."

The older boy tried to hide his smirk and said

"sure, you want to meet on the roof?"

Sora nodded happily.

"Okay!"  
The older boy suddenly stopped.

"Well, this is your stop. I'll see you at lunch!"

The shorter one smiled.

"Yeah, see you soon!"

Before entering the classroom.

He quickly headed inside the chaotic classroom and found his two friends amongst the screaming teenagers. He sat in his now usual spot between the two.

"Hey guys!"

Selphie was comatose, her forehead stuck to the wooden panel of her desk. She mumbled something that Sora interpreted as hi. Wakka was actually sitting straight while he was munching on an apple.

"What's up?"

Sora chuckled at the complete contrast. He knew in an hour or so, the roles would change and would stay that way for the rest of the day.

"Oh guys! I asked Leon and he said he didn't mind. So we're gonna meet him on the roof at noon."

Selphie immediately jumped up, eyes wide.

"Wah! He said yes?! Woohoo! We're going to have so much fun! First we're going to…"

Wakka started repeatedly pounding his head on the table.

"Ugh! And here I thought we'd get peace and quiet for an hour at least!"

Selphie bounced up to Wakka, dancing around him and trying to pull him up to join her.

"Oh but Wakka, it's gonna be so much fun!"

The boy groaned loudly and started knocking his head against the desk again, muttering.

"What did I do to you? Huh? What?"

Sora just wished he had remembered the popcorn.

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The first half of the day seemed to pass abnormally slowly for Sora and Selphie who were very excited about their lunch with Leon. Wakka, for his part, was often seen trying to escape from an over-excited Selphie to the amusement of Sora and a few of their other classmates. Finally, noon rolled over and the three practically ran out to the roof. Wakka to get away from Selphie, Selphie to meet the hunk and Sora to see his friend and crush.

Needless to say, they got there before Leon but it gave the time for Sora's companions to gape at the magnificent panorama. Just as Selphie was starting to get impatient, the heavy metal door opened and Leon emerged from the doorway. Selphie immediately squealed and jumped over to the older boy introducing herself and asking him a million of questions at a breath-taking speed. Sora could see the amusement on Leon's face and turned to Wakka who was slumped in relief of having been delivered from the overenthusiastic girl. The four had a very pleasant lunch once Selphie relinquished her hold on Leon long enough for him to sit. Finally the four separated, Selphie and Wakka (much to his displeasure) leaving alone towards class and Sora following Leon to his classroom to meet his own friends. The two walked along the hallway.

"Leon, are you sure about this? I mean, I don't mind meeting your friends later when we have more time."

The taller one shook his head.

"No, this way I'm sure they're all in the same place and it's only fair. I met yours, you meet mine."

Sora couldn't help but blush as he imagined Leon saying that exact sentence while talking about their parents-in-law and quickly gathered his wits as they reached the classroom door.

Leon opened the door and pulled Sora with him as he moved through the groups of students to finally find his own clique. He led the younger boy to it. The first to see him was Roxas who waved him over. Leon finally managed to move them out of the crowd and reached the cluster of desks where his friends were regrouped. He stood in front of Roxas and Axel.

"Hey guys!"

The two glanced at him and then turned towards his companion, both pairs of eyes widening and cheeks flushing as four arms shot out to grab the adorable boy in a hug. Sora blushed tremendously at the couple's reaction.

"Axel, Roxas, this is Sora. Sora, these two idiots are mentally challenged."

Axel glared at him.

"Don't call my cuddle bunny retarded!"

Leon shook his head and lifted his hands in defeat.

"I'm sorry, your 'cuddle bunny' isn't retarded. Only you are…"

The redhead opened his mouth to exclaim his indignation but was interrupted by Roxas' cry of "You're so cute!" Sora blushed and thanked the blond who just pinched his cheeks as a response. Leon shook his head and quickly went to save the traumatized Sora.

"Come on, Sora. I'll introduce the others to you."

He headed towards Kairi and Tidus. The former was talking and the latter was nodding absent-mindedly, eyes a bit cloudy.

"Kairi, Tidus?"

The two turned to look at him and he introduced Sora. Tidus just nodded while Kairi smiled at him and started a conversation with him. After a few minutes, Leon decided to stop them. Sora had to get to class soon and he still wanted him to meet Riku and Cloud.

"I'm sorry, but Sora I still want you to meet some people."

The boy nodded and he and Kairi hugged tightly.

"So you'll have lunch with us tomorrow?"

The brunet nodded quickly.

"I promise!"

Finally, Leon led Sora to the couple who were talking softly. Riky had his back to them while he was whispering to Cloud.

"Um…Guys? I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."

Riku turned around and froze while Leon felt Sora stiffen at his side. He glanced at the younger boy and saw him staring with wide, terrified eyes at Riku who was looking back with the same fearful surprise. Suddenly, Riku whispered "Sora".

Azure eyes widened a bit further and the short boy took a step back. Cloud who had previously been a spectator of the two's strange reactions, marched up to Riku and put his arm around him.

"Riku? Riku, baby, are you okay?"

Leon looked at Sora whose mouth formed an 'o' of realization as he glanced between the two. The silver haired male looked at Cloud before gazing back at Sora.

"Sora…"

The youngest boy shook his head, his face turning perfectly blank.

"It's nice to meet you two."

The blond nodded, confused while Riku stayed frozen, still staring at Sora like he was seeing a ghost. The brunet turned to Leon.

"Leon, I'll see you tomorrow at lunch?"

The grey eyed teen nodded, as confused as Cloud.

"Yeah, same place."

Sora nodded and left, the only indication of his displeasure being his tightly clenched fists.

"Riku? Riku!"

The silver haired boy shook his head. Cloud touched his arm, concern shining brightly in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Sea green eyes glazed over in deep thought.

"Nothing…"

Riku threw his boyfriend's hand off of himself and stalked to a seat far from his friends. Leon held in a deep growl at Riku's treatment of Cloud. He put his arms around the trembling, lost blond and guided him to a seat, eyes narrowing in anger. As he took his own place beside his crush, he glanced between the brooding silver haired boy and the doorway from where his newest friend had exited. The next year certainly promised to be an interesting one.

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Loud bass filled a large empty room, followed by the sorrowful sound of violins. The contrast fit so perfectly with the torment in his broken heart that he had to dance. The slow, enticing melody blended with the twists and turns of his lithe body. Every crescendo was followed by the graceful spinning of his slender figure. His desperate movements forced him to momentarily forget the pain in his chest and he could, if only for a instant, ignore the tears steadily streaming down his face. The tune changed but he continued, only slowing slightly to allow his pace to fit its rhythm. His eyes stayed closed during the whole ordeal. He couldn't - wouldn't – open them while surrounded by the gigantic mirrors that composed the walls of the dance studio. He refused to see his bloodshot eyes and the tears sliding down his cheeks. To be reminded of Him. Everything made him think of the other. Even himself. He pushed aside the torturous clenching of his heart and concentrated on his precise actions. And as he abandoned himself to the intoxicating dancing, he could forget, for a moment, his painful memories. He could forget Him. Forget the torment he had to face at such a young age. When his heart was broken just as he was learning to love.

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**FLASHBACK**

"I…I don't know what to say…I mean I'm flattered but…well…"

Blue eyes stared incredulously into aquamarine.

"You're flattered?"

A silver haired boy winced slightly and rubbed the back of his neck, a pained expression on his face.

"Well, I mean…Look Sora, just forget what you told me and I'll pretend I never heard it."

The younger of the two frowned.

"Forget…pretend? Riku, I don't understand. I love you! I can't forget that!"

The green eyed boy clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him to a secluded corner of the park they were in.

"Sora, that's wrong! It's digusting! We're boys. We can't love each other. Look, you're still twelve. Just forget about this and get a girlfriend or something. What you're feeling right now, it's abnormal and I will never feel the same way!"

The thirteen year old then quickly looked around to make sure nobody had heard them. He glanced back at Sora once he was sure that the coast was clear.

"Sora…I don't think we should be friends anymore. Just, seriously, take my advice and never say that again."

The tiny brunet watched, a hand clutching his chest as his best friend left without a backward glance. Walked away with his childhood's friend's heart in shatters at his feet. Sora didn't know how long he stood there, staring blankly at the spot where Riku had been standing, but when he got out of his thoughts, the sun had set. He looked around himself, trembling. Everyone seemed to be sending him accusatory glances, laughing snidely at him. His chest was clenching around his broken heart, choking it. Around him, all he could see were faces. Some he could recognize, some he couldn't, but all were sneering at him. Disdainful looks took over their features as they pointed cruelly at his pathetic form and laughed, the sound ripping away at his soul. His breath shortened and his nails dug into the palms of his hands as he was lost in a sea of unsympathetic faces. His vision turned black with panic and he did the only thing he could, he ran. He ran to the only place he felt secure in. The only vestige of his rapidly fading childhood. And as he entered the treehouse, he felt safe. The soft scent of pinewood and the familiar sight of magazines and pictures thrown around the room comforted him gently.

"I knew you'd come here, you little faggot!"

Sora quickly turned around and saw his only other friend standing by the entrance.

"Ansem…what-?"

The white haired boy sneered and pushed the brunet to the floor.

"What, you surprised? Riku told everyone about your little confession. I think a good beating will clear your head a little, you cocksucker!"

Sora's eyes widened as he crawled away from the older boy, tembling.

"Ansem, please! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Shut up, you fag!"

The thirteen year old stomped towards him and punched him right across the jaw, sending his head flying to the side and knocking it heavily against the ground. The punch was soon followed by an array of punches and kicks until Sora just stared blankly at the wood panels of his safehouse as he was beaten by his best friend. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ansem backed away. It was only then that Sora heard Riku's voice.

"Man, Ansem, you got him really good!"

The sound of two hands slapping each other rose in the air and Sora felt bile accumulating in his throat at the thought of his friends congratulating each other for his pain. He felt his body being lifted and suddenly he felt the wind whipping at it as he was thrown out of the cabin.

"And you better not come back, you poof!"

Sora painfully lifted his tired and abused body from the ground and started limping towards the main town.

Once he was a few meters away, he turned around, glancing at the small wooden tree house. Taking in the chipped wood and the peeling red paint of the boards, his heart clenched as he knew it would be the last time he would see, truly see the old creaky treehouse. A single rebellious tear escaped his eye as he turned around and left his childhood behind. As he entered his apartment a few minutes later, he realized that it had finally happened. The one thing everyone kept urging him to do. He had finally become an adult. Sora had grown up in the span of a night. As he entered his bedroom, staring out of his open window, he could not help but wish that he could have stayed a child. All he had wanted was to say goodbye to his best friend. Friend that he was probably never going to see again in his life.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Sora turned off the stereo and walked up the stairs from the basement, heading to his room. He remembered Riku today and laughed emptily and sardonically. Wasn't it ironic? Perfect, straight Riku who had destroyed him inside and out for admitting his sexuality, now had a boyfriend. He wondered if Ansem knew. Maybe he was a gay marriage partisan now? Sora snickered. Yeah, right!

Tell me what you think and please review!


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